Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the IRB?
A. IRB stands for “Institutional Review Board.” It is the entity officially charged by the University with protecting the rights of human subjects in research projects. It used to be called “Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects” (CPHS), and you will still hear it referred to occasionally as “Human Subjects.” We adopted the title IRB in 2004 to be congruent with Federal guidelines.
Q. Do I have to worry about deadlines? How do I apply for IRB approval?
A. The vast majority of IRB applications at USD are reviewed under the Expedited Review Category. That means that there are no deadlines, and you may submit an application at any time. You can apply by downloading the Application Form from this website. We strongly urge you also to download the Sample IRB Application for New Proposals and the Sample Consent Form. Please use these samples as much as possible in crafting your application. You can cut and paste them as a Word Document.
Note: We are grateful to the University of Cincinnati IRB for the following text. It is an excellent summary of an issue often encountered by USD faculty.
Q: Clarification regarding what constitutes research in the classroom would be very helpful. We sometimes do in-class demonstrations (learning a list of names, seeing some visual or auditory special effect, giving a questionnaire on learning style) with the intention of demonstrating these as research instruments and not actually collecting data. Do these activities constitute research? In other Research Method courses, students sometimes do in-class demonstrations and analyze their own performance data. If there is no intention to publish or go further with the data (data records are destroyed after the course ends), does this still constitute research?
A: IRB review is required when the activity meets the definition of 'human research' as defined in HRP Policy No. III.01. If the activity is not designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge, then IRB review is not required. For example, if students replicate a research study where the expected results are so well-known that they will not develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge, then IRB review is not required. If students perform human research, IRB review is required even if the data will be destroyed and the results will not be published.
Q. Who are the key persons for the USD IRB? What do they do?
A. Dr. Thomas Herrinton is the IRB Administrator for USD. He is the official administrator for the entire IRB process and is the federally-designated signatory for the IRB at the University. Dr. Jane Georges is the IRB Chairperson. She serves as a resource and consultant for faculty and students needing assistance in preparing IRB applications.
Q. How can I contact them?
A. You can e-mail us at:
Dr. Thomas Herrinton (IRB Administrator): herrinton@sandiego.edu
Dr. Jane Georges (IRB Chairperson): jgeorges@sandiego.edu
Q. Is there IRB assistance within my own School or College?
A. Yes, each academic unit at USD has an IRB Representative. You may want to contact your IRB Representative first to discuss issues related to the specific requirements of your academic discipline. Also, you will need to get the signature of the IRB Representative on your application form before submitting it.
Q. How long will it take to get approval on an Exempt/Expedited Review?
A. We do our very best to facilitate the progress of an application. You may expect an e-mail response regarding the outcome of your application from Dr. Herrinton within one to two weeks of submission. If you are preparing for a deadline, we urge you to plan ahead to allow for adequate time to obtain the signatures of your IRB Representative and Dean and to have your application processed.
